Ted’s stomach turned into a titanium block. What was she doing?
“Ted MacInnis is one of the finest gentlemen I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. I met him in the heat of battle, when he saved my life on Air Force Two. He was a backup pilot, waiting for his chance to prove himself. Well, I assure you, he did. Over the next week of constant danger and endless challenges, he allowed me time to grieve my lost husband. He remained a perfect gentleman during those long, desperate nights. In fact, the only thing we ever disagreed about was whether I could promote him for repeatedly saving the life of the President of the United States of America.” She chuckled. “To be clear, I wanted to promote him, but he refused any talk of promotions. I think he keeps a list of reasons in his wallet.”
The crowd cracked up, though Ted could dispute the point with her. She’d also resisted the promotion to president for a long time.
“So, in the spirit of openness as your new leader, I have two actions I’d like to take today, and I hope I have your blessing to do so.”
That shut everyone up.
“To lead off, and as one of the first official actions of my station, I would like to promote this man to colonel, overseeing the Presidential Airlift Group. As president of an entire nation spread over vast distances, I will need to travel these lands in Air Force One with the oversight of someone who knows the aircraft as well as the war taking place below us. Colonel Ted MacInnis, will you accept this well-earned promotion?”
He stood there on the razor’s edge of decision. All his misgivings were still present but taking over for the whole air wing was directly in his wheelhouse. It made sense. She couldn’t have picked a better spot for him.
When it seemed like the decision was going to extend beyond a few seconds, Kyla yelled from the stands. “Take it!”
Then everyone yelled.
It became obvious he couldn’t deny the request of his boss.
“I accept!” he said, to more applause.
It took over a minute to settle everyone down. He suspected Kyla and Peter were doing their best to keep the cheers coming. Their hooting and yelping were the loudest.
When it became possible to speak, Emily tapped the mic. “And I do have a second action, though this one is off the official record, because I’m not sure there is precedent for this.” She turned sideways at the podium and radiated a smile toward him. “Colonel Ted MacInnis, would you honor me by taking a second promotion to the office of First Gentleman?”
He felt his jaw slip open. They’d already committed themselves to marriage while under the impacts of nuclear missiles. They’d further confirmed their decision after they’d lived through them. But hearing it in front of the world finally made it real.
The entire parade area had gone silent.
It was an easy decision. Ted took a few steps forward, swept Emily into a hug, and leaned toward the microphone. “I do.” He tried to kiss her, but they were soon swamped.
His actions had sent the field and stands into chaos. Kyla and the others ran out and alternately hugged and congratulated them. People from the town gave them high-fives, and the COs of the soldiers made their way to offer their congratulations and regards. The press conference was over…
Eventually, he and Emily were surrounded by his friends. Meechum had stepped in, smiling for a change, as had Kyla, Tabby, and the others. When the noise had died down to a respectable level, Meechum patted him on the shoulder.
“Congratulations, sir. You two seem good together.”
He shook her hand, noting that her head and chest wounds seemed to be healing nicely. “Thanks. Coming from you, that’s a huge get.”
“Well, I kind of see Kyla as the sister I never had, so you can be like the father who was never there when I was a kid.” She looked at Emily with a bit of hesitation. “And you, ma’am, could be like the kickass mother I never thought possible.”
Emily pshawed. “You can join our family anytime.”
Meechum had more on her mind. “Hey, you didn’t say anything about Dwight. We named the airfield after him. Why didn’t you mention him in your speech?”
Tabby shoved her way closer. “Yeah, he should have gotten some credit. I mean, I have no idea what he did before he showed up in that cell, and he was a total pain in the butt the whole time I was with him, but it was his action that saved us. David would probably have transported us to another one of his strongholds if Dwight hadn’t lifted the tablet from him.”
Emily became reflective. “I’m glad they named the airfield after him. I was there. I know he was a hero, like all of you. And I was going to mention him. However, I tried to look up his background. I wanted to credit his hometown. Say something about his journey. Maybe mention his obvious mental challenges, pointing out he never let it stop him.”
Ted approved. “So, why didn’t you?”
She turned. “Because he didn’t exist. I searched in the federal records. I searched in the military archives. Hell, I searched in David’s systems, too.”
Kyla nodded. “I helped her. She’s right. The guy was a ghost.”
“What are you saying?” Ted asked. “His records are gone? Maybe with all the devastation, his files got mixed up. There has to be a reason.”
She shrugged. “Maybe. I admit, after two weeks of taking risks and living life on the edge, I decided to play this one close to the vest. If we figure out who he was, I’m happy to mention him in a future speech. Hell, I’ll award him the Medal of Freedom for what he did. However, until I know he was even an American citizen, having his name on this airfield will have to do.”
Peter answered. “Wouldn’t it be funny if that guy survived? Maybe while we were in that white light he stripped out of his clothes and walked out of the bunker. Maybe he stole David’s missing artifact, too. I mean, come on, that guy was friends with an imaginary bird. I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“The bird was real, at least for a little while,” Tabby replied in a contemplative voice. “Lots of us saw it sitting on his shoulder. You two saw it fly away. Was it always real? Magic? I don’t know. But if he did summon that bird through sorcery, then maybe it was possible he got up and walked away during the flash of light. I hope he did. He deserved that much. And if he’s out there, I hope he found his pet again.”
The group hit an awkward silence.
To counter the effect, Ted got Kyla’s attention. “Hey, kid. I’ve been meaning to tell you: everyone seems interested in commemorating the dead. I promise we’ll get back to New York City to set out a marker for your mother.”
Kyla thought it over before replying. “Nah, I don’t think she would like that. She’d want me to look forward, not back. Mom would tell me her spirit is floating wild up in the sky somewhere, not tied to any piece of ground. You know how she was—”
“Flighty,” they both said at the same time.
He gave her a hug, but Emily caught his eye the moment they separated.
“I know that look,” he mused.
Her brown eyes sparkled. “I’m off the clock. Let’s talk about you, Colonel. You’ve been given two new ranks. What are your first orders going to be?”
Ted grinned, pulling out his keepsake presidential challenge coin. “I was thinking of taking action as First Gentleman and First Pilot at the same time. As I said, I’m excited to be flying again. I have the new Air Force One fueled and ready to go on the tarmac over there. Perhaps Madam President would like to inspect the sleeping quarters?” He held the coin out, as it now belonged to her.
“Eww,” Meechum snickered.
“Get a room,” Peter joked, causing Audrey to bop him in the stomach.
“I knew it all along,” Kyla said matter-of-factly.
He locked eyes with his bride-to-be as she reached for his hand.
After all they’d done, Ted imagined his adventures were just beginning.
###
Thank you for reading the Minus America series.
As I always do, I’d like t
o ask you to take a brief moment and leave a review for this book on Amazon. Each and every review is important to me as it serves a critical role in helping my books rise above the noise on Amazon. If you can believe it, there are over 5000 books going into Amazon every day of the year.
Your review helps my book get found by readers and, if I’m lucky, by Netflix and movie producers looking for something new and exciting. If you know any, send them this book!
But seriously, thank you.
Wait! There’s more. I have a short author’s note on the following pages.
This book is a work of fiction.
All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.
Hostile Shores (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds)
are Copyright (c) 2020 by E.E. Isherwood
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of E.E. Isherwood
Version 1.0
Cover Illustration by Covers by Christian
Editing services provided by Mia at LKJ Books
Author Notes – E.E. Isherwood
Written August 12, 2020
Thank you for reading this far.
It’s been over a year since I released the first book in this series. What a strange and eventful year it has been. Fortunately, I don’t have to recap here, since we’ve all been living it. 2020 is a year we might all want to zap out of. Skip ahead to 2021…
This series of books has become another one of my favorites. As you might have noticed from the beefy epilogue, I didn’t want the series to end. The empty American continent is still a very dangerous place, filled with many of the same bad people David brought over in his planes and shipping containers. The larger world has also become more unforgiving, due to David’s cunning plan to have Americans kicked out of every country. What better way to learn who your friends are…
Would the Europeans side with the remnant population of Americans, small as it is, since those Americans were the ones who saved the continent from annihilation? Or would they blame the Americans for David’s rise and for the nuking of London, which spewed radiation into much of the European countryside? I’d like to think our European friends would rally to our cause.
What about those nations who are already at odds with the USA? Would China send assistance to fight the Legion, or would they send an invasion force to take over? What about Mexico and other states to the south? Would they finally see the chance to seize new lands? Would powerful dictators view it as a time to take over weak neighbors all around the globe, since the US wouldn’t be there to defend them?
I’m fascinated by the what-ifs for the new world awaiting President Williams.
And let’s not overlook the catalyst for the entire Legion superweapon. Where did the advanced piece of technology come from? It was found by the US military in Afghanistan, but we don’t know if it was Chinese, a rogue global corporation, or something else. Did the military put it there on purpose? Maybe it was aliens. Perhaps it fell through from a parallel dimension? Would God drop it on us, as a test, to see what we did with it? Would we use it for good? For evil?
These are questions which keep me up at night.
I left a few pages of the book dog-eared next to my typewriter. Little details which might one day lead to more of the story being told. However, I decided this book took the story to a perfect stopping point. As a writer, you always must be looking to the next book, deciding if a series is making enough money, and providing new material for your readers. I hope you’ll agree Minus America came to a satisfying conclusion.
If you haven’t read my other series, I invite you to check out End Days, which I co-wrote with Craig Martelle. It is a four-book adventure about a science experiment which breaks time itself. During the ensuing apocalyptic collapse of America, a father and son must fight across the continent to find each other. And they have to do it before time itself comes to an end…
Also check out the Impact series, which I co-wrote with Mike Kraus. That is a six-book journey set in America as an asteroid breaks apart and splatters down all over the nation. A young park ranger is the heroine who must protect those around her at Yellowstone National Park. She also becomes entangled with the corporation responsible for bringing the space rock to Earth in the first place. Her father, a Kentucky-boy, uses every means of transportation he can find to track down his daughter in the midst of chaos.
Finally, my Since the Sirens series is currently at seven books, though it is not finished. The story was my first as a writer, and it features two of my favorite characters—so far. Liam, a young teen boy, must protect his great-grandmother Marty, who is 104-years-old. Why? As a plague ravages America, he learns the only people who are immune to it are those who survived the Spanish Flu. Those over 100 years old. The very same people who typically die first in apocalyptic fiction…
Links to all my series will follow this note.
For now, I want to thank you again for purchasing all five books in this series. It has been a pleasure to write and share these characters with you. Perhaps someday I’ll revisit this version of the apocalypse and see how our friends are doing.
As always, thank you for being a reader.
EE
E.E. Isherwood’s other books
Minus America, Empty Cities, Rebel Cause, Two Wolves and a Sheep, and Hostile Shores.
Impact (co-written with Mike Kraus) – A post-apocalyptic thriller about an asteroid slamming across the heartland of America. Six books.
End Days (co-written with Craig Martelle) – A post-apocalyptic adventure about a father and son on opposite ends of a continent ravaged by a failed science experiment. Four books.
Sirens of the Zombie Apocalypse – A teen boy must keep his great-grandma alive to find the cure to the zombie plague, but what if the only people immune are those over 100? Seven books.
Amazon – amazon.com/author/eeisherwood
Facebook – www.facebook.com/sincethesirens
My web page – www.eeisherwood.com
That’s all the time I have. The next book calls to me!
Minus America Box Set | Books 1-5 Page 117